Teaching in Pain, a Lesson on Gratitude

As I have boon looking at the flooding in our region, it has dawned on me that God is so precise in His guidance when we allow Him to.

This has led me into having so much gratitude in my heart for that leadership.

Let me get you into my heart briefly.

As those who have been following me through my blog, you must be aware that God has for a long time been speaking to me about my new aspect of ministry, especially after I turned fifty

As I have shared, priests were supposed to serve from thirty years and stop serving at fifty.

It means they were to stop serving when their bodies were still strong and able to continue serving.

Incidentally, God had impressed that truth on me for a very long time. I therefore knew that it was just a matter of time. I remember sharing those truths even before the day approached.

Among the things God did as that time came was to offer me some rest. It is essential for an elder to be seated to offer adequate guidance to the active.

I had been in the city for a long time with all the hassles inherent in it.

So, the first major thing God did to me was to give me my own place to free me from the stresses of house rent and its related strains.

He did not give me a ready-made place. Instead, He gave me money for the purchase and building of that place; in the right phases since that was one way of getting me into the place of rest.

I first got money for purchasing land yet it was six months before I was able to get to see that land. This is the focus of this post.

There was a wide range of places to choose from and it required not only the money but also the close guidance of God who had opened that door.

Since I had an inkling of the kind of place God needed me to have, I was looking for land in four counties, something I have also shared. Even then, I had my preferences according to the vision God had placed in my heart.

I would be called to see a piece of land, sometimes in far off places, by friends I had asked for assistance on the same.

With a friend or two, I would then go to the place to view the land.

A few times, we would immediately dismiss the land as not representing the vision God had put in my heart concerning it.

Sometimes, the land would be ideal and we would fall over ourselves in admiration.

I could take the copy of the title deed to commence the process of the purchase.

When I went home, however, God would stop me from proceeding by refusing to give His release.

At some point, I wondered whether I was the one who was not hearing God right, especially with the advice I got from my friends to take the very good pieces of land.

I remember once being caught in the curfew with my sons who had accompanied me to one such visit that we had to lodge in Nairobi during the corona season. Even then we had gotten the ideal piece of land among the very many we had viewed and even taking a copy of its title deed.

Still, God said No!

It was then that my broker told me that there was a place that had had so much war for a long time and that there was sure to be some land if I was not scared of that past.

We therefore went to view.

The piece of land was simply amazing, ideal for everything I would need.

It had a well already dug and built over. It had enough building materials to set off my building project. It even had mature trees, enough not just for shade but even for a few other uses. And of course, the price was just right. The owner was a minister of the Gospel.

There was no dispute that we had got the deal I was pursuing. I even started imagining the ministry I would be doing in that place.

God is as always interesting.

A few days after waiting for a copy of the title deed to be brought, I was told that the owner had been convinced to stop selling the piece of land.

What I think happened is that God realised that the offer had blocked my ears from hearing Him and had barred me from pursuing that deal, as has happened to me some other times. He therefore simply stopped it.

Later I was told there were some other pieces of land in the same area being sold and I didn’t feel any push towards them after that disappointment.

I went anyway. There were several offers on the table.

The first one we went to view was so way off anywhere (it appeared so) since we parked our vehicle and walked through the bush and brush for so long.

However, when I was shown that wasteland chocked with weeds, I felt in my heart that that was the land I had been looking for.

We went to look at several other pieces which looked even more promising and nearer development but my heart had already gotten to its rest.

My friends advised me against what my heart was telling me but I had the peace of God.

That is the place I am at today.

I have written all this to get us to this point.

The place I settled in is slightly elevated and boasts of sandy soil with a very gentle slope.

With this abundance of rain, my place has never flooded.

Two reasons. First, sandy soil simply passes the water through. Five minutes after the rain stops, you might think it rained the previous day. Second is that due to the elevation there is no time you will find any excess water on my plot, even in the farm. I then walk in sandals, even to the farm!

Less than fifty metres from my place you will get to a river and lake that go for over a kilometre.

In the other direction, I can comfortably get to the road without wading in water or mud.

With the rains, my crops are doing quite well as they are free from flooding.

What am I saying?

God directed me to the place I am at. His precision at doing it is amazing just like Him.

When I think of the place God stopped me from purchasing, the place everybody, including me, thought was ideal, I am sure that it is at this point completely flooded. I most likely would have had to move out.

I hope you now understand why I am so grateful.